LIVING BY A HIGHER STANDARD- When the world hates, we love. Today at Family Worship Center, Pastor Gabriel Swaggart reads Matthew 5:43-47 teaching on how the believer is called to live out the character of Christ in love. He teaches on storgè, the familial love that is the type of love that a father and mother have for their children and that children have towards their parents. Philia love speaks of strong affection, or brotherly love, and is the highest type of love that one is capable of giving within oneself. A third type of love is Agapè, which is a love without prejudice; it is a self-sacrificing love, the love that God has shown towards humanity. It is the God-kind of love. Jesus Christ dying on Calvary's Cross is the greatest love ever known to man. As true believers, our love of Christ is then shown to others through our conduct. Our actions and words are very powerful in the spirit world. When the Christian is confronted with hate, we are called to love our enemy, bless those who curse us, and pray for those who persecute us. Jesus calls us to do good to those who hate us and forgive. He forgives us, and we must forgive as well; His is a higher standard.

Gabriel Swaggart, Love, Hate, Self-Sacrificing, Persecution, Forgiveness, The Cross